About ERI’s position statement
Environmental Attribute Certificates (EACs) allow transfer of ownership of an environmental attribute of a product, either in conjunction with it or separately. As market-making instruments, EACs have the potential to positively influence the development and exponential scaling of climate solutions, bringing them towards “positive tipping points”. To incentivise corporate investments in such solutions, organisations are seeking clarity regarding the conditions under which the EACs can be used to claim emission reductions within market-based GHG accounting and/or progress against climate targets.
There is no clear consensus on the conditions under which EACs can be incorporated into existing accounting and reporting rules. Major standards, like GHG Protocol and SBTi, are under revision, and new and independent organisations are developing their own sets of rules for accounting for, reporting and claiming the use of EACs. It will be some months or years until the revisions and debates regarding EACs are concluded.
To help organisations navigate the current uncertain landscape of commodity certificates, Exponential Roadmap Initiative has defined its position statement and provided recommendations on the actions corporates can undertake when working with EACs in the absence of clear guidance from relevant organisations.
